Hey everybody! Been lurking for a while, thought it might be entertaining to share my experiences here. Thanks to everyone for all the knowledge you all keep sharing, it has been massively useful considering how little I used to know about all this stuff!
So... I'll try to keep this backstory short. South Dakota, family farm, June 2020... we have a pandemic on our hands. I get the brilliant idea to cut an area of the lawn to be like a golf hole. Scalped it to the bone. Genius me even smothered an area with sand thinking it would help level the area around the hole I put in the ground. Bonus: You can even see a little stretch of "fairway" I scalped on the top right.
Result? Disaster! Summer heat = Lots of grass died and ALL KINDS of weeds took over. Grubs were plentiful and so were the critters tearing up the lawn looking for them. I did not take further photos. Looking back, the one example I have is the background from a photo. The one green anomaly is an area I tried to hand water to see if that would do any good.
As you can tell by my next photo, the hand watering plan was scrapped and I was in full amateur golf architect mode. Well... actually I thought I could pull off a "deep rough" area near the driveway, so I did water that. A tiller and a shovel is not an efficient means to build a golf hole. I did a fair amount of experimenting moving dirt around in the fall, but nothing too crazy. Oct 2020
Over the winter I looked up tons of photos of beautiful golf holes that inspired me. Even so, designing my first "golf hole" was a big head scratcher. In March 2021 I decided to put the old tractor to use and moved in at least 15-20 bucket loads of soil from a pile in the pasture. The yard slopes right to left, and it took way more than I thought to build up an area in a nice shape to be somewhat level. The "potential bunker" I dug by hand.
This is the final design I ended up using. Seemed to be the best approach for simplicity and worked with the slope of the land, plus the potential for a variety of different golf shots to be able to practice. Most importantly, I wanted it to look and play similar to a legit golf hole. The "bunker" did not get filled with sand, but it was considered an option up until the point I realized the farm cats would turn it into a giant litter box.
I learned a lot from you guys and other websites over the winter. The majority of the rest of the yard I mowed short, dethatched, got rid of the debris, aerated, overseeded, and used the Scotts Starter Fert w/Mesotrione. Watering for germination I had this setup. The dog was loving chewing his brush under the sprinker that morning.
I know some of you nerds are like "What seed did he throw down?!" At the time, I had no patience to weed through all those stinking NTEP numbers, so I talked to a local golf course owner. Jacklin Overseeder ii (70%KBG 30%PRG) was the stuff he used for his fairways and rough that I admired. I ordered online from Pendelton Turf Supply. https://www.pendeltonturf.com/product-page/jacklin-overseeder-ii-70-bluegrass-30-ryegrass Since then I have been learning more about kbg cultivars. Found a website that said 3 of these could have been in that mix. (Award, Everest, Jackpot, Liberator, NuGlade)
My planting plan here was based on Ryan Knorr's youtube videos. I'm a very visual person and those helped immensely. The steep slopes I did add some extra seed to improve the density. The dog was upset he couldn't tear up the fresh dirt!
The rest of the yard was a concoction of weeds, bare spots, and every kind of grass that had been planted or survived since who knows when... Tenacity in the starter fert did help some, mostly relying on the kbg to take over as much as it can.
Planted the "green" on April 24, 2021
PRG germination May 2, KBG germination May 12
First Mow - May 20th!
Overall it turned out hugely successful. No washouts... who knew a drought in our area was actually useful?
Used a Scotts manual reel mower all year on this.
Started mowing at about 1.75" and gradually worked my way down to 0.75"
After the mesotrione wore off, some weeds did pop up, so I spent some time hand pulling them.
July 16 - A lot of filling in. The overseeding was a major improvement, but far from a uniform lawn, as I expected.
Height of cut for the rest of the lawn was 3.5-4" for the majority of the year. Did not want crabgrass to get any chances.
August 1 - Height of cut on the green is 1.125". The heat and humidity started an episode of rust across the lawn, but quite heavy in the grass bunker. Deep rough in that low spot didn't seem conducive to preventing disease. At some point I do need to research options to solve the drainage issues for this "grass bunker".
August 8 - HOC on green is 1". Practiced hitting some golf balls. Really happy with the design, the bunker sucks balls in like a magnet and makes for some challenging shots from this angle. Works well as a chipping and pitching practice area. I had done some research on what is involved in constructing a USGA putting green, and the effort, complexity, and maintenance involved was far beyond my reckoning. Perhaps someday...
August 15 - The day all this effort paid off. Had a family get together and obviously the guys were the first ones out hitting golf balls. Eventually a couple of the ladies wanted to join the fun, this I had not expected! Wow, so much fun watching everyone have a good time and the dogs went nuts chasing golf balls all over the place!
August 21 - The heat of the summer showed me just how poorly the old grass performs under stress. Temps were coming down, so I upped my overseeding game by using a SunJoe scarifier/dethatcher.
Left the green intact. Did the south half of the lawn. I really beat the snot out of it hoping to give the KBG in the Overseeder ii mix a better chance to take hold than it had this spring.
Sept 16 - Been letting the overseeding area grow out. I think I might have gotten the green down to 0.75" by this point. Also been working on the slopes around the green and in the bunker lowering the height of cut with the manual reel. I expanded the area on the right side of the green hoping the low height of cut would discourage the undesirable lime-green grasses and encourage the better kbg to take over. Not sure if that accomplished anything or not.
Sept 18 - The full yard is finally mowed. So far the best this yard has ever looked!
Sept 26 - The lawn improvement itch is real. This area was 90% weeds, terribly bumpy, not worthy of being called a lawn. No roundup, I just pummeled the crap out of it with this drag until the surface was powder.
This last second reno area was risky, there really wasn't much left of a seeding window. Didn't want to use premium grass in case it failed. Decided to put some Scotts Sun&Shade Rapid Grass to the test. Shade was of concern being in this back area with trees.
Oct 2 - This little mole vermin decided to resurface again. Last year he had gone to town in the yard, time to put a stop to him once and for all. No success in killing it, but it didn't resurface again. Will be watching like a hawk in spring.
Oct 10 - Germination was half-decent considering the conditions. Lucked out with a warmer than average fall.
If it fills in next spring, I could be hitting full swing wedges from back here.
Oct 23 - A different view to show ya.
Nov 4 - Dense fog that morning made some epic frost.
Nov 6 - Green is 0.75" and the slopes/bunker I finally got down to 1". If you aren't accurate, balls will roll off the sides like you're at Augusta National. My brother found this added challenge highly enjoyable.
Nov 9 - Thanks for following along. I hope it was enjoyable. I skipped over a lot and tried to give you some of the highlights. Major improvements from beginning to the end of the season. I learned a lot and am working on ideas for 2022.
God bless and I wish you all a great year ahead!
Ben
So... I'll try to keep this backstory short. South Dakota, family farm, June 2020... we have a pandemic on our hands. I get the brilliant idea to cut an area of the lawn to be like a golf hole. Scalped it to the bone. Genius me even smothered an area with sand thinking it would help level the area around the hole I put in the ground. Bonus: You can even see a little stretch of "fairway" I scalped on the top right.
Result? Disaster! Summer heat = Lots of grass died and ALL KINDS of weeds took over. Grubs were plentiful and so were the critters tearing up the lawn looking for them. I did not take further photos. Looking back, the one example I have is the background from a photo. The one green anomaly is an area I tried to hand water to see if that would do any good.
As you can tell by my next photo, the hand watering plan was scrapped and I was in full amateur golf architect mode. Well... actually I thought I could pull off a "deep rough" area near the driveway, so I did water that. A tiller and a shovel is not an efficient means to build a golf hole. I did a fair amount of experimenting moving dirt around in the fall, but nothing too crazy. Oct 2020
Over the winter I looked up tons of photos of beautiful golf holes that inspired me. Even so, designing my first "golf hole" was a big head scratcher. In March 2021 I decided to put the old tractor to use and moved in at least 15-20 bucket loads of soil from a pile in the pasture. The yard slopes right to left, and it took way more than I thought to build up an area in a nice shape to be somewhat level. The "potential bunker" I dug by hand.
This is the final design I ended up using. Seemed to be the best approach for simplicity and worked with the slope of the land, plus the potential for a variety of different golf shots to be able to practice. Most importantly, I wanted it to look and play similar to a legit golf hole. The "bunker" did not get filled with sand, but it was considered an option up until the point I realized the farm cats would turn it into a giant litter box.
I learned a lot from you guys and other websites over the winter. The majority of the rest of the yard I mowed short, dethatched, got rid of the debris, aerated, overseeded, and used the Scotts Starter Fert w/Mesotrione. Watering for germination I had this setup. The dog was loving chewing his brush under the sprinker that morning.
I know some of you nerds are like "What seed did he throw down?!" At the time, I had no patience to weed through all those stinking NTEP numbers, so I talked to a local golf course owner. Jacklin Overseeder ii (70%KBG 30%PRG) was the stuff he used for his fairways and rough that I admired. I ordered online from Pendelton Turf Supply. https://www.pendeltonturf.com/product-page/jacklin-overseeder-ii-70-bluegrass-30-ryegrass Since then I have been learning more about kbg cultivars. Found a website that said 3 of these could have been in that mix. (Award, Everest, Jackpot, Liberator, NuGlade)
My planting plan here was based on Ryan Knorr's youtube videos. I'm a very visual person and those helped immensely. The steep slopes I did add some extra seed to improve the density. The dog was upset he couldn't tear up the fresh dirt!
The rest of the yard was a concoction of weeds, bare spots, and every kind of grass that had been planted or survived since who knows when... Tenacity in the starter fert did help some, mostly relying on the kbg to take over as much as it can.
Planted the "green" on April 24, 2021
PRG germination May 2, KBG germination May 12
First Mow - May 20th!
Overall it turned out hugely successful. No washouts... who knew a drought in our area was actually useful?
Used a Scotts manual reel mower all year on this.
Started mowing at about 1.75" and gradually worked my way down to 0.75"
After the mesotrione wore off, some weeds did pop up, so I spent some time hand pulling them.
July 16 - A lot of filling in. The overseeding was a major improvement, but far from a uniform lawn, as I expected.
Height of cut for the rest of the lawn was 3.5-4" for the majority of the year. Did not want crabgrass to get any chances.
August 1 - Height of cut on the green is 1.125". The heat and humidity started an episode of rust across the lawn, but quite heavy in the grass bunker. Deep rough in that low spot didn't seem conducive to preventing disease. At some point I do need to research options to solve the drainage issues for this "grass bunker".
August 8 - HOC on green is 1". Practiced hitting some golf balls. Really happy with the design, the bunker sucks balls in like a magnet and makes for some challenging shots from this angle. Works well as a chipping and pitching practice area. I had done some research on what is involved in constructing a USGA putting green, and the effort, complexity, and maintenance involved was far beyond my reckoning. Perhaps someday...
August 15 - The day all this effort paid off. Had a family get together and obviously the guys were the first ones out hitting golf balls. Eventually a couple of the ladies wanted to join the fun, this I had not expected! Wow, so much fun watching everyone have a good time and the dogs went nuts chasing golf balls all over the place!
August 21 - The heat of the summer showed me just how poorly the old grass performs under stress. Temps were coming down, so I upped my overseeding game by using a SunJoe scarifier/dethatcher.
Left the green intact. Did the south half of the lawn. I really beat the snot out of it hoping to give the KBG in the Overseeder ii mix a better chance to take hold than it had this spring.
Sept 16 - Been letting the overseeding area grow out. I think I might have gotten the green down to 0.75" by this point. Also been working on the slopes around the green and in the bunker lowering the height of cut with the manual reel. I expanded the area on the right side of the green hoping the low height of cut would discourage the undesirable lime-green grasses and encourage the better kbg to take over. Not sure if that accomplished anything or not.
Sept 18 - The full yard is finally mowed. So far the best this yard has ever looked!
Sept 26 - The lawn improvement itch is real. This area was 90% weeds, terribly bumpy, not worthy of being called a lawn. No roundup, I just pummeled the crap out of it with this drag until the surface was powder.
This last second reno area was risky, there really wasn't much left of a seeding window. Didn't want to use premium grass in case it failed. Decided to put some Scotts Sun&Shade Rapid Grass to the test. Shade was of concern being in this back area with trees.
Oct 2 - This little mole vermin decided to resurface again. Last year he had gone to town in the yard, time to put a stop to him once and for all. No success in killing it, but it didn't resurface again. Will be watching like a hawk in spring.
Oct 10 - Germination was half-decent considering the conditions. Lucked out with a warmer than average fall.
If it fills in next spring, I could be hitting full swing wedges from back here.
Oct 23 - A different view to show ya.
Nov 4 - Dense fog that morning made some epic frost.
Nov 6 - Green is 0.75" and the slopes/bunker I finally got down to 1". If you aren't accurate, balls will roll off the sides like you're at Augusta National. My brother found this added challenge highly enjoyable.
Nov 9 - Thanks for following along. I hope it was enjoyable. I skipped over a lot and tried to give you some of the highlights. Major improvements from beginning to the end of the season. I learned a lot and am working on ideas for 2022.
God bless and I wish you all a great year ahead!
Ben